He went to her door at what he considered a relatively early hour of the morning. The giggling inside told him her sisters had already found their way. With a withering look at the guard he knocked.
"Come," a voice called.
She was sitting at a small table with several dishes before her. She smiled up at him and motioned him over. "Come eat." She held up a pastry with berries on top. "These are my favorite."
He sat opposite her, taking one and biting into it, nodding. "For a population without a planet you do have a lot of produce."
She shrugged. "We have agreements with various worlds. We provide things they need."
"What sort of things?"
"Fabric mostly. Armor. The men work well with leather, the women knitting or embroidery. When I can get them to sit still for a moment!" she called toward the girls that had begun chasing each other around the bed. She shook her head at him. "Youthful and silly, as promised." She smiled as she wiped at the purple stain around her mouth. "So then, I imagine you have questions."
He nodded. "Just a little…clarification."
"Of course."
"I see no provision for divorce."
She chuckled. "Anxious to be rid of me already?"
"I like to know my options."
She nodded, folding the napkin in her lap. "This belongs to our..ability. Divorce almost never happens in this world. We're bonded too closely to separate. Being apart for a period of time can be physically painful."
He raised his eyebrows. "And it will be for me as well?"
"To be perfectly honest I have not a clue. To my knowledge your people and mine have never joined. I will be…aware of you. Sense you. Know how close you are, whether you're well or not."
He drummed his fingers on the table studying her. "That sounds distracting."
She shook her head. "Tickle in the back of your mind. Very easy to block out."
"You'll be able to read my mind?"
She laughed. "Not at all. I'll know it's stronger when you're close and weaker when you're far. I'll know if you are in pain or upset in the vaguest of ways. Far from reading minds."
"How can you be so sure if you've never been married before?"
"I have something similar with my family." She motioned to the two behind them that had settled to chattering over a piece of lace.
"All right, accepting that, divorce is possible?"
She nodded. "In the odd chance that the couple decides they would like one, they petition…well usually the queen. I'd have to look it up to be certain but I believe in the case of the royal couple it would be the council."
"But it is possible?"
"Of course it is."
"What other…abilities do you have? There were some vague references."
"We can pass our memories on to others. Through the female line. And we can let others view them."
"Anyone?"
She nodded. "Including you. I've collected as many as I dare. Seems the ruler should after all. And they come with the emotions. You see, when I speak of the pain that Asgard caused our people it is fresh to me as if I'd lived it. As if my daughters were taken. As if I was stripped from my family and enslaved myself."
"How did you get those memories?"
"Some of them escaped and came back to us. Not many."
"Why hold on to such unpleasant thoughts?"
She sighed. "Sometimes that's all that gives you strength." He nodded, glancing down at the papers before him. "And there is one other thing."
"Yes?"
The girls suddenly seemed intensely interested, standing behind their sister and giggling expectantly. His eyes narrowed.
"This particular gift comes from my people. Another reason we band together. It's something only the Queen holds, and the stronger our people are, and the more of them there are, the stronger my powers become. If we are to add Asgard to my subjects my power would increase."
"I am versed in magic."
The girls twittered and this time she laughed as well.
She glanced toward the door to her bathroom, which closed with a resounding slam that made the girls giggle again.
He shook his head and folded his arms. "Is that supposed to impress me?"
She calmly sipped a steaming cup of something that smelled like mint. "Go open it."
With a sigh he stood and tugged hard on the handle. The door didn't give a millimeter. Giving her a look he started to pull on the handle with his full weight. She looked evenly back at him.
"All right." He stocked back across the room and picked up a butter knife. "I learned long ago what brawn cannot overcome a keen mind can." Turning back to the door she watched levelly as he pulled the hinges and stepped back, giving the door a firm tug.
Beyond the girls' renewed laughter and Deara's taking another bite of her breakfast nothing happened.
"Feel free to use your magic," she suggested.
"Very well." He glanced at the girls. "You may want to shield your eyes. This will be bright."
With a flash fire erupted from his fingertips and crawled up the door.
She watched it dissipate against the ceiling without so much as a scorch mark.
He turned to her. "You're doing this?"
She nodded.
He walked up to the door and pressed his hand to it, his eyes widening. "Trying to transport through it now?" she asked as she sipped again. He nodded, pushing harder. "It's not going to work."
"I'm beginning to see that." He turned toward her, studying her a moment. "What else can you do?"
She stood and strode toward him. Suddenly he felt himself lifted and pressed to the wall. The girls at the table howled with laughter.
It wasn't particularly rough or jarring. The hold was actually very gentle. But as he pressed against it he realized he couldn't so much as twitch a finger nor lift his foot, although his head did seem to be free. If you didn't mind being pinned to the wall two feet off the ground it was actually a comfortable stance.
She stood, watching him struggle, then start flipping through spells in his head. He even turned himself completely invisible but her eyes never left him.
Feeling a bit reckless he brought himself back into their sight and turned his eyes on her. Flames sprang up around her. While her hair rose in the first rush of heat her clothing settled quickly back into place as the fire raged.
"Not easily distracted," he said with approval. "This is how you knew my image was a projection?"
She nodded and he felt the bonds settling him gently back on his feet, then disappear. "I knew there was nothing there to take hold of."
"And magic cannot break through it?"
"I've not found any yet that can."
He tilted his head and watched her. "So my brother? And his hammer?"
"I have no reason to believe it would not be the same."
He circled her again. "At last. Someone who can match the unmovable force." She shrugged and smiled up at him as grinned down at her, the first true smile she'd seen. "You are magnificent."
She gave him her first true smile back, cocking one eyebrow and leaning close to whisper, "You have not yet seen the full scope."
"I look forward to it," he answered.
For a long moment neither looked away. Finally one of the girls cleared her throat. "Aren't you supposed to be making wedding plans?"
She rolled her eyes and returned to her seat. "If the vows are to your liking, we can turn to the matter of your personal butler. I had the council bring forth a few names. You may interview them if you like. They served my brothers and father. They know their craft and shall serve honorably, discretely, and well." She offered him the paper.
He barely looked at it. "Whomever you feel is worthy shall be acceptable. How quickly can the wedding take place?"
"A few days. My dress is more or less complete, but something will have to be made for you. The vows to be memorized."
"They are now," he said with a smirk.
"That just leaves the knot and the dance," her sister said, snatching a flat cake from the table.
"The first dance is always the same. We can work on that. Although if you would let me lead you, I have every faith you could fake it."
"Lead me?"
"With my abilities. A little push here, a tug there."
"I think I would prefer to learn it properly." She hid a smile behind a bite of her breakfast. "Dancing was never my favorite activity but it was not unheard of. I am capable."
"I'm not laughing at that," she assured him.
"Then what?"
"The irony of a man I just had pinned to a wall but will not allow me to lead him in a dance."
A smile traced his lips. "I imagine boundaries will come in time." He took a bite of the first thing to find his hand on the table. "What is the knot?"
"Traditional weddings involve a man weaving a love knot into the bride's hair before the wedding. You use a ribbon and I cut a lock of your hair that is weaved in. It's a complicated process, and we tend to be very superstitious about it."
"If it falls out in less than a week he will die before the year is up," the younger sister said.
"If it comes undone she will die in childbirth."
"That is…oddly specific," he said.
"Just put a bit of effort into learning it and all will be well."
"Are you going to be tying one into my hair at the same time?" he asked.
"No, actually she will crown you," the younger sister said.
"I like the sound of that."
"With flowers," his intended added.
"That's less exciting," he said.
She shook her head and wiped her mouth with her napkin one last time. "I'll send your servant to you when he is located. The dance master can help practice this evening if that is acceptable."
"It is."
"Is there anything else you would like?"
"A tour of the ship perhaps? To see the warriors?"
She nodded, standing to smooth her skirts. "I can take you to see the training ground at lunch. We can do a bit of a tour then." She snapped at the girls who quickly stood. "We have business to attend to. I shall see you soon."
He caught her hand as she moved to leave. She stopped short, turning curious eyes on him. With a sparkle in his eyes and a grin on his face he raised her hand to his lips. "I look forward to it."
With a blush in her cheeks she nodded and swept her giggling sisters out of the room.